Noric language

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Noric
(uncertain)
Old Italic, Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3nrc
Glottolognori1240

Noric or Eastern Celtic is a proposed continental Celtic language that may have been spoken in Central Europe and the Balkans in ancient times.[1] Almost all the evidence come from onomastics. Only a few short inscriptions may be linked to the language, including two discovered at Grafenstein in Austria and one at Ptuj in Slovenia.[2][3] The linguistic features that can be gathered from these records suggest that it was similar to Gaulish.[4][3]

The identification of Noric belongs to the wider problem of reconstructing extinct ancient Celtic languages from fragmentary material. Heiner Eichner notes that such inscriptions cannot be explained from etymology alone, but must be read through comparison with later Celtic languages, internal structure, and by taking their context into account.[5]

Inscriptions

Two inscriptions in Grafenstein (Carinthia, Austria) and Ptuj (Slovenia) are written in a Celtic language referred to as Noric, potentially spoken in the Roman province of Noricum in early centuries AD. Due to the lack of sources the existence of a separate language is uncertain.

Ptuj inscription

ARTEBUDZBROGDUI (a facsimile of the original inscription, written right to left)

The Ptuj inscription, discovered in 1894, is written right to left in Old Italic alphabet, and is unusual, since the vernacular writing traditions of Northern Italy are considered to have ceased in the late first century BC.[6] The inscription reads as follows:

𐌀𐌓𐌕𐌄𐌁𐌖𐌈𐌆𐌁𐌓𐌏𐌙𐌈𐌖𐌉

Translation:

ARTEBUDZBROGDUI

This is interpreted as two personal names: Artebudz [son] of Brogduos.[7] The name Artebudz may mean "bear penis"[8] (compare Welsh arth "bear" and Irish bod "penis"), while Brogduos may contain the element brog-, mrog- "country"[9] (compare Welsh bro "region, country"). Alternatively, the inscription may be interpreted as Artebudz [made this] for Brogdos, with the second name in the dative case.[10]

Grafenstein inscription

The Grafenstein inscription

The Grafenstein inscription, on a tile from the 2nd century AD that was discovered in a gravel pit in 1977, is incomplete, but the extant part has been transcribed as follows:[11]

MOGE · ES[

P· II- LAV · EX[
ṆE · SAḌỊÍES[
OLLO · SO · VILO[
ỌNẠ C[…]

OLLO · SO · ? [

P LṾGNṾ · SI

Here, Moge seems to be a personal name or an abbreviation of one, P· II- lav a Latin abbreviation indicating a weight, ne sadiíes a verbal form possibly meaning "you (singular) do not set", ollo so perhaps "this amount", and Lugnu another personal name. The text may therefore be a record of some sort of financial transaction.[11]

Other readings of the inscription have also been proposed, including:

MOGE · ES+[---]

PET(?) LAV · EX[---]
NE · SAMES[---]
OLLO · SO · VILO ·[---]
ONA O(?) + ++

OLLO · SO ·+

+ LVGNI · SI

[12]

MOGV · CISS [---

PETILAV · IEX[---
NE · SADIIES[---
OLLO · SO · VILO ·[---
ONA DOM...OC[

OLLO · SO · VIA .[

ILVGNV.SI[

[13]

References

  1. Hickey, Raymond (2013). The Handbook of Language Contact. John Wiley & Sons. p. 538. ISBN 978-1-118-44869-4.
  2. Eska & Evans 2009, p. 42.
  3. Eska, Joseph F. (2017). "The dialectology of Celtic". In Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Vol. 2. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1270. ISBN 978-3110521757.
  4. Koch, John T.; Minard, Antone (2012). The Celts: History, Life, and Culture. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 222. ISBN 978-1-59884-965-3.
  5. Eichner 1989, pp. 17–18, 23, 38–39.
  6. "Ptuj". Cives. 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
  7. "Vase de Ptuj". Encyclopédie de l'arbre celtique (in French). Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  8. Il Vocabolario Celtico [The Celtic Vocabulary] (in Italian). pp. p. 87, p. 89. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  9. Falileyev, A. Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-Names (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  10. "Quellentexte: Ptuj". Indogermanistik Wien, University of Vienna (in German). Archived from the original on 4 May 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  11. Stifter, David (12 October 2007). "Keltisch in Österreich (Powerpoint)" [Celtic in Austria (Powerpoint)] (in German). Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2008. Stifter, David (12 October 2007). "Keltisch in Österreich (PDF of lecture)" [Celtic in Austria (PDF of lecture)] (PDF) (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  12. "Quellentexte: Grafenstein". Indogermanistik Wien, University of Vienna. Archived from the original on 4 May 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  13. "Tuile de Grafenstein". Encyclopédie de l'arbre celtique (in French). Retrieved 9 January 2008.

Sources

  • Eska, Joseph F.; Evans, D. Ellis (2009). "Continental Celtic". The Celtic Languages. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-10034-7.
  • de Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia (2007). "Varietäten des Keltischen auf der Iberischen Halbinsel. Neue Evidenzen". In Birkhan, H. (ed.). Kelten-Einfälle an der Donau. pp. 149–162.
  • Eichner, Heiner (1989). "Damals und heute. Probleme der Erschließung des Altkeltischen zu Zeußens Zeit und in der Gegenwart". In Forssman, Bernhard (ed.). Erlanger Gedenkfeier für Johann Kaspar Zeuß. Erlanger Forschungen. Reihe A, Geisteswissenschaften. Vol. 49. Erlangen: Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg. pp. 9–56.
  • Meid, Wolfgang (2005). Keltische Personennamen in Pannonien. Budapest: Archaeolingua.